US domestic CRC prices start to level

Last week, the most commonly reported spot price transaction range for US domestic CRC ticked down slightly to $36.50-$38.50 cwt. ($805-$849/mt or $730-$770/nt) ex-Midwest mill, and although the range has leveled out since, it has not exactly absorbed the recent “effective immediately” $1.00 cwt. ($22/mt or $20/nt) price increase rolled out by AK Steel and US Steel on all new orders. While order activity is still pretty good, according to SteelOrbis sources, the CRC market is facing not only the standard “end-of-year-slowdown”, but ample imports already arriving at the docks. 

In terms of futures offers, “Chinese mills are really settling back in with their pricing,” according to one source.  And at this point, traders are becoming a little more comfortable in placing orders, especially since all that talk of trade cases “seems to have been a lot of crying wolf.”